Greater proportions of ethnoracially matched teachers decreases the likelihood of suspension for Black, Latinx, and Asian American students. The magnitudes of these effects are small but suggest that diversifying the teacher workforce could lead to significant decreases in exclusionary discipline in urban districts.
Shirrell, M., Bristol, T.J., & Britton, T.A. "The Effects of Student-Teacher Ethnoracial Matching on Exclusionary Discipline for Asian American, Black, and Latinx Students: Evidence From New York City." EdWorkingPaper, 21-475, (2021).
This brief includes an empathic discipline program: an intervention for teachers that is designed to mitigate the consequences of bias on their students’ education outcomes with a focus on exclusionary discipline. Researchers tested whether the empathic discipline program could be implemented through MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Support) networks in a large and diverse school district and whether it could mitigate yearlong suspension rates.
Okonofua, J. and Semko, S. (2023) Through MTSS, Empathic Discipline Program Can Mitigate Racial Disparities in Suspension Rates. California MTSS Research Consortium, UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools. Accessed September 5, 2023.
There are large racial disparities in school discipline in the United States, which, for Black students, not only contribute to school failure but also can lay a path toward incarceration. Although the disparities have been well documented, the psychological mechanisms underlying them are unclear. The authors argue that race not only can influence how perceivers interpret a specific behavior, but also can enhance perceivers’ detection of behavioral patterns across time.
Okonofua, J. A., & Eberhardt, J. L. (2015). Two Strikes: Race and the Disciplining of Young Students. Psychological Science, 26(5) 617–624.
School suspension and expulsion are important forms of punishment that disproportionately affect Black students, with long-term consequences for educational attainment and other indicators of wellbeing. Prior research identifies three mechanisms that help account for racial disparities in suspension and expulsion: between-school sorting, differences in student behaviors, and differences in the treatment and support of students with similar behaviors. The authors extend this literature by (1) comparing the contributions of these three mechanisms in a single study, (2) assessing behavior and school composition when children enter kindergarten and before most are exposed to school discipline, and (3) using both teacher and parent reports of student behaviors.
J. Owens, S. S. McLanahan, Unpacking the Drivers of Racial Disparities in School Suspension and Expulsion. Soc. Forces 98, 1548–1577 (2020).
Bastable, E., Meng, P., Falcon, S. F., & McIntosh, K. (2023). Using an Embedded Mixed Methods Design to Assess and Improve Intervention Acceptability of an Equity-Focused Intervention: A Methodological Demonstration. Behavioral Disorders, 48(3), 201–211. https://doi.org/10.1177/0198742919880486
